The Montagnard Foundation announces the establishment of the Sang Ae Die Degar church, which means Church of the Degar (Montagnard) People. Our Church is a Christian denomination that believes in the basic principals of Christianity. While our physical Church is located in Greensboro, North Carolina and we are free to practice Christianity in the United States, inside Vietnam our people are persecuted, tortured and even killed by the Vietnamese authorities. At this moment we have hundreds of religious prisoners in Vietnam’s prison and yet over 24,000 people from hundreds of villages in Vietnam’s Central Highlands have courageously joined our Church in defiance of Hanoi’s threats. We state clearly that the Vietnamese government has nothing to fear from us and as Christians, all we want is to peacefully co-exist in Vietnam as equal citizens with all Vietnamese people and our desire is purely human rights and religious freedom. Below are pictures of our Church in Greensboro, North Carolina.
We also have over 1000 Degar members who live primarily in North Carolina. You can see our choir singing on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AY7CFmh4BE&feature=related [2]
We call the Vietnamese government to officially recognise our Church and cease persecuting our people. We also call on the US government and international community to acknowledge our right to peacefully practice our religion according to international law.
We also pray that the Vietnamese authorities will cease persecuting us and release our estimated 300 religious prisoners, like our Christian sister Puih Hbat who has been imprisoned since April 2008for the crime of conducting prayer services in her home. You can see her picture (below) and her husband pleading for her release on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwVhlzZHuZA [3]
Thank You and God Bless
Article by Montagnard Foundation